Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to buildings and more specifically to a foam block and poured concrete building system, which reduces the cost and labor skill requirements for constructing the walls of a building.
Discussion of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,024,035 to Hanson et al. discloses a building block and structures formed therefrom. U.S. Pat. No. 6,848,228 to Williams discloses a method and apparatus for making foam blocks and for building structures therewith. Patent publication no. 2014/0123583 to Arriola Serrano discloses a block for construction and method of construction with said block.
In the construction industry, houses are normally built out of 2″ x 4″ or 2″ x 6″ lumber, which is used as the structural members of the walls of a house and are then sheathed in particle board or plywood (which is referred to as a “stick framed house”). The construction materials are cheap, but the labor that is used to construct them is expensive, and time-consuming. In addition, there is currently a shortage of skilled labor that knows how to build a conventional stick framed house. Furthermore, there is a lack of interested young workers willing to do this type of work, which will only further exacerbate the labor shortage and continue to drive up labor costs.
There has been a substitute to the conventional stick-framed house, which uses insulated concrete foam blocks (hereafter, I.C.F.'s). There are many different types, but the majority of these systems are made out of some form of Styrofoam that have voids in the centers, which once assembled are filled with concrete. The concrete acts as the structural members of the walls, and the Styrofoam acts as the insulation. Most of these systems are used in subterranean (below grade) as basements. The reason for this is that it is difficult to alter the size and shape of these “blocks” to account for “obstructions” in the wall, i.e. doors and windows. Therefore, most of these systems are not cost-effective to use above grade, and are relegated to be used for basements.
There is a better way and a much better design to accomplish using I.C.F.'s to build the entire house that is much more cost effective then building convention-ally built stick-framed houses. The insulated concrete foam blocks could be made where the house will be constructed. A mobile block making form would be on a trailer that is towed to the job site, and set up to start making blocks that pertain to a set of blue prints for the specific house to be constructed. The foam-block making machine will be totally self-contained with its' own generator to make its' own power, and to supply additional power to be used at the job site. It will have tanks that will contain the chemicals to be used to make the spray-in foam that will be made into the insulated concrete foam blocks.
The foam block machine would be capable of making enough I.C.F.'s to construct an entire house (3,600 s.f.}, in approximately 4 hours of actual running time. The advantages of manufacturing the blocks on site are: 1. To negate the shipping/transport costs to move them from a factory (that would normally produce them) to the construction site. 2. The blocks would be made specific for the house that is being constructed on the site. 3. The blocks are erected in a running bond that are bolted together with a 1″ x 4″ piece of P.V.C. that is pre-drilled for the bolts to go through, and simply be locked together using two nuts every 24 inches. 4 . All the doors and windows would be pre-hung and would be ready to install as the house is being assembled out of the I.C.F.'s. The pre-hung doors and windows would simply be bolted into place as the I.C.F.'s are erected. 5 . Once, the I.C.F.'s are placed with all of the doors and windows installed, concrete will be pumped into the cavities voids in the I.C.F.'s. Once the concrete cures, a truss system would be brought in; placed; sheathed; and installed and the roofing material on the truss system. A five man crew could make and place the blocks for an entire house in the course of one to two days. This would be a huge advantage over a conventional stick framed house that would easily take ten times longer to build. In addition, the people building a stick framed house are considerably more skilled, and as such, will demand a much higher wage, than the people who would assemble an I.C.F. built house.
The materials used to build an I.C.F. house would cost more, but those costs would easily be offset by the efficiency of building the I.C.F. house and the cost advantage in the pay of the individuals used to assemble it. In addition, the construction industry is experiencing a vast shortage of skilled carpenters that can build stick framed houses, as many of them are simply retiring. There is also a shortage of young workers to train to take their places. In the future, the I.C.F. building system would alleviate many of those problems, as a person could be trained to assemble this I.C.F. house in a matter of hours. As opposed to a carpenter who is skilled at building a stick framed house, which conservatively would take a minimum of two years of experience/training.
Likewise, the pay of a skilled carpenter who can build a stick framed house would likely be double that of a worker hired to assemble an I.C.F. house. An I.C.F. house could be built using a five person crew, a lead person, and four additional workers. The lead man would make $30.00 per hour and the additional workers would make $20.00 per hour. This would be a weekly pay rate of $4,400.00 per week for the crew. Conservatively, this crew could assemble two houses per week. ($4,400I 2=$2,200.00 per house.) After the walls have been assembled, a concrete pumping truck would come in and the cavities in the I.C.F.'s would be filled with concrete. After a couple of days the concrete would be cured. Thereafter, trusses would be craned into position on top of the walls, sheathed and roofed. Thereby, weather-proofing the house to have all of the interior details worked on. The interior walls could then be erected. The exterior walls are already insulated, at 12 inches thick, would yield a minimum R-50+. In contrast, a stick framed house would require a crew of 8 men working for about two-three weeks. Most of these men would average making in excess of $35.00 per hour. (This would require $11,200.00 per week in salary, and $11,200 x 2 or 3 weeks =$22,400-$33,600 in salary to build one house.) The interior walls could then be erected. Thereafter, trusses would be craned into position on top of the walls, sheathed and roofed. Thereby, weather-proofing the house to have all of the interior details worked on. The exterior walls would then have to be insulated with fiberglass insulation or with spray in foam insulation. The most that could be spayed into a 2″ x 4″ stud bay would 3.5 ″ (at R-6 per inch) this would result in an R-21 insulated wall. (2″ x 6″ stud walls are 5.5″, and would yield an R-33 insulated wall.)
Accordingly, there is a clearly felt need in the art for a foam block and poured concrete building system, which includes a plurality of foam blocks, poured concrete and fastening strips for creating walls of a building.